Bubba Pollard visited victory lane for the seventh straight time at Mobile International Speedway Saturday night. Photo courtesy Mobile International Speedway
What’s hotter than hot?
If there’s no word for it, there’s two now. Better yet, a single name: Bubba Pollard.
The Senoia, Ga., driver won another Miller Lite Super Late Models 100 on Saturday at Mobile International Speedway, a Rick Crawford Performance Track, passing Donnie Wilson on Lap 88 to go and never entertaining a threat from runner-up Augie Grill in the final 12 laps.
Chase Elliott, the defending track champion and current NASCAR K&N Pro Series East rookie, made a valiant attempt to track down the leaders and finished fourth.
How’s this for white hot? Pollard has now won all three Miller Lite Super Late Model 100s this season. He has won seven straight late model races at MIS dating back to last year. And Pollard took another checkered flag in a third No. 18 Ronnie Sanders car.
The three-year marriage between Pollard and Sanders, his car owner, certainly has been a match made in short-track heaven.
“I’ve got a good hotrod at this place,” Pollard understated. “We’ve won a lotta races the last three years. We communicate well. I’m glad I have someone like (Sanders) on my team.”
Surely the feeling has been mutual, especially this year since Pollard has now won nine late model races across the southeast.
He chased down Wilson late in the Miller Lite Super Late Models 100 on Saturday after Wilson jumped to the lead on the second lap and tried to run away from the 20-car field.
Wilson started on the outside of Row 1 after Steven Davis’ dice roll set a 10-car invert. Davis started on the pole after being the only driver to go below 17 seconds (16.982) in qualifying. That put Jeff Fultz out front with Wilson to his outside.
Wilson, the Oklahoma City, Okla., driver, jumped to the lead quickly and made it stick for most of the race until lapped traffic allowed both Pollard and Grill to crawl closer.
On Pollard’s decisive move, Wilson’s car was tight and began to drift up the hill. That allowed Pollard to make the run for the lead and deliver a crushing blow once again.
“They moved to the wrong spot,” Wilson said of the lapped cars. “But the car wasn’t better than Bubba’s. We just have to keep gaining on him.”
That seems to be the same ol’ story almost every time Pollard is in a race this season.
Grill tried to gain on him in the final 10 laps, but never quite could put the fear of God into Pollard.
“We came up a little short. Bubba was a little bit better than we were,” said Grill, who held off Elliott on Friday at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. “I thought we’d have something for him. We couldn’t rotate in the center. I’m happy to go home with a first and a second.”
Pollard, too, thought his buddy was going to give him a touch better run for his money.
“I was scared that I was pacing Augie,” he said, “and I was afraid he was gonna be better than us at the end.”
As decorated of a late model history as Grill continues to have, Pollard’s season has been dipped in gold.
He credits his hauler of trophies to setting his own pace, being patient early in races and knowing the right times to throw down the gauntlet for the lead.
“You have to have a good racecar that’s turning well to pace yourself,” Pollard said. “That’s what the key is. Other guys have to run a little harder than we do.”
None run any hotter, though.
Miller Lite Super Late Models 100-1. Bubba Pollard, 2. Augie Grill, 3. Donnie Wilson, 4. Chase Elliott, 5. Jeff Fultz, 6. Ryan Reed, 7. Jerry Artuso, 8. Mike Garvey, 9. Kenzie Ruston, 10. Casey Smith, 11. Ryan Crane, 12. Chris Davidson, 13. Josh Bragg, 14. Dale Little, 15. David Jones, 16. D.J. Vanderley, 17. Steven Davis, 18. Thomas Praytor, 19. Allen Karnes, 20. Jessie Reid
Praytor Realty Super Stocks
Bubba Winslow continued to prove he belongs in a super stock ride.
The youngster from Cantonment, Fla., won another Praytor Realty Super Stocks 20-lap feature Saturday at MIS, holding off Shannon Jackson for much of the race.
The real story, though, was the nifty driving of several Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen drivers who took Tommy Praytor’s Sportsman challenge to compete with the Praytor Realty Super Stocks.
As the race progressed Praytor increased the bonus to $300 if a Sportsman could finish in the top 3 and $400 if they could win. Three of the top five were, in fact, Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen cars, led by Steve “Chopper” Stagner who finished third. Because he was the highest finisher of the Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen drivers and in the top 3, Stagner collected $300.
If it hadn’t been for the deft driving of the 17-car field, the feature could’ve been marred by a rough collision between Jessie Reid and Bobby Baria with just four laps completed.
When James Alonzo pushed up the racetrack coming out of Turn 4, Reid and Baria had nowhere to go. Both hit the outside wall hard, sparks flew, clouds of smoke billowed and the door was kicked open for the Sportsman Drivers to have a big night.
A big night indeed.
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Praytor Realty Super Stocks 20-Lap Feature Results – 1. Bubba Winslow, 2. Shannon Jackson, 3. Steve Stagner, 4. Steve Buttrick, 5. Lee Reynolds, 6. Michael Ledlow, 7. Johnny Greene, 8. Philip Goudreaulet, 9. Chad Robinson, 10. Darin Matthews, 11. James Alonzo, 12. Sean Randall, 13. Bobby Baria, 14. Jessie Reid, 15. Matt Taylor, 16. Jackie Stringfellow, 17. Mike Moore
Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen
Lee Reynolds prayers went unanswered.
Reynolds, known as “Red Dog” to his fellow racers, had a sizable lead through the first part of the race until a caution gave Steve Buttrick the chance to make up some ground.
Buttrick seized the opportunity and won for the third straight time at MIS. the Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen 20-lap feature would stay green.
“I haven’t done anything on this car in so long,” said Buttrick, who started eighth. “I have it dialed in at Five Flags (Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.), and I don’t touch it when I come over here.”
In other words, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Reynolds led the first seven laps and was putting some distance between he and Buttrick when the yellow flew.
“I didn’t need that caution,” Reynolds said. “You know that was going to put the (No.) 33 (Buttrick), (No.) 38 (Stagner), the (No.) 00 (Brannon Fowler) all right up there with you.
“We’re getting better more and more every week. I can’t wait for next time.”
After Steve Stagner was disqualified in technical inspection for his left side being too heavy, Brannon Fowler claimed third with Randy Thompson moving up to fourth.
Thompson was an amazing story himself. The Cantonment, Fla., driver had motor issues before they even left the Panhandle on Saturday. He arrived just 10 minutes before the feature began.
Starting on the tail end of the 17-car field, he maneuvered his way up front and collected an impressive showing.
Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen 20-Lap Feature Results-1. Steve Buttrick, 2. Lee Reynolds, 3. Brannon Fowler, 4. Randy Thompson, 5. Bob Bryant, 6. Chad Robinson, 7. Nick Brownlee, 8. Christopher Brownlee, 9. Michael Ledlow, 10. Mark Barnhill, 11. Sean Randall, 12. James Myers, Jr., 13. Johnny Greene , 14. Jerome Lavinswky, 15. Philip Goudreaulet, 16. Bryce Dulabhan, DQ. Steve Stagner
Island Motors II Bombers
Jay Jay Day’s night didn’t begin so well.
It had a spectacular finish, though. Day was spitting nails earlier in the evening after learning that at least one drivers was talking about putting $1,000 to claim his motor.
No one would’ve blamed them after Day won his third straight race, fifth of the season, in the 15-lap Island Motors II Bombers feature Saturday at MIS.
While the motor bounty never came to fruition, Jay Jay Day’s victory maintained the bounty on his and cousin Johnathan Day’s heads.
“Everyone makes it sweeter for my dad,” Jay Jay Day said. “To start eighth and get the win, I love it.”
It might sound like a broken record, but he passed Jayme Corry, his Day Racing Team mate on the third restart with 12 laps complete. Corry finished second, but the story of the night belonged to Rusty Powell Sr.
The veteran driver and 2008 track champion had spent the last nine days in the hospital with pancreatitis before being released at noon Saturday.
Powell was bound and determined to race.
“I’m trying to prove I still got it,” Powell said. “I love everybody I race with. They’re great guys.”
The feature was built as a shootout between a pair of formidable forces of Day and Curtis Faircloth, who has dominated with five wins at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola this season.
A fourth-place finish isn’t bad for most, but it was a hair below Faircloth’s standards. He made some noise with some aggressive driving, though, that got both Day and Corry loose at one point in the race.
“He got into me and got me sideways. I let him know,” Day said of Faircloth. “But whatever, it’s racing.”
Easy to have that approach when you’re winning.
Island Motor II Bombers 15-Lap Feature Results-1. Jay Jay Day, 2. Jayme Corry, 3. Rusty Powell, Sr., 4. Curtis Faircloth, 5. Wesley Barnhill, 6. Johnathan Day, 7. Derek Long, 8. David Johnson, 9. Michael Beasley, 10. Brandon Burks, 11. Leonard Craig, Jr., 12. Daniel Hill, 13. T.J. Thompson, 14. Benny Bender, Jr., 15. Troy Bartlett, 16. Wayne Ridgeway, 17. Charles Lathan, 18. Brandon Tipton
Next Up
Racing returns Saturday, July 9 at MIS with the thrilling return of the Tampa Bay Area Racing Association Winged Sprint Cars, the Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsman and Island Motors II Bombers capped off with FIREWORKS!
For more information, visit www.mobilespeedway.net
